• Preheat the oven to 350 °F
• Prepare and mise en place your ingredients.

Pasta

• In a large pot, bring two litres of water to a rolling boil.
• Once boiling, add the macaroni and stir.
• Let it boil for 8 minutes.
• When it is time, put the colander in the sink and pour the contents of the pot into the colander. Rince the pasta with cold water and set aside.

Ground Beef

• While the macaroni is cooking, preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Once hot, add the ground beef. Saute the ground beef to break it up.
• Once the ground beef is close to medium-rare, add the basil, oregano, bay leaf, smoked paprika and black pepper. Continue to saute until the ground beef is well-done.
• Dump the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste into the skillet. Allow it to simmer until the sauce reduces and thickens, stirring occastionally so that it doesn't burn.
• Once the sauce is thick, turn off the heat. Stir in the cooked macaroni and set aside.

Cheese Sauce

• In a medium tall sauce pot on medium heat, melt the butter.
• Once melted, add the onion, peppers and garlic. Saute until the onions are translucent and just begin to caramalize, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the flour to form a roux.
• Slowly add the milk, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring continuously until the sauce thickens after each addition. It is important to keep the sauce in motion so that the milk doesn't curdle.
• Slowly add the cheese, about 1/2 cup at time, and stir until all the cheese has melted as is well-combined.

Put It All Together and Bake

• Once done, fold the cheese sauce into the contents of the skillet.
• Dump the contents of the skillet into a 9-inch X 13-inch glass baking dish and cover with aluminium foil.
• Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes.
• Once done, remove from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.